Sraath the Reborn
Category:NPCCategory:Netherbane right|thumb|500px|Sraath the Reborn, recently summoned to the world of Azeroth. =Description= Race Doomguard Physical Appearance Sraath is a rather large Doomguard, marking both his power and his stature amongst the Shadowed Sun unit that he commands. Prior to his defeat under the axe of Daeloth the Silencer, Sraath was most easily regonized by his elongated protruding horns etched with runes that bolstered his already impressive strength. The battle with Daeloth, however, left Sraath's body shattered and torn. His loyal followers retrieved it from the combat site and stored it away while they worked on a ritual to reattach the sentient and powerful spirit of their former master to his body. They eventually discovered this ritual, one of the earlier rituals concerning undeath amongst demonkind. Sraath was reunited with his shattered body, which was then reinforced with more fel power. The new Sraath appears very similar to his old self, but his skin is much darker and the leathery webbing of his wings is all but gone. The fel magics that flowed through him in life still flow through him now, and their eerie glow can be seen through the runes carved into his horns and tusks. A recent description of him claims: ''Sraath was huge, taller than most of the slender trees that made Ashenvale as dense as it was over the millenia. His head was as tall as Daeloth's entire bloated kaldorei body, and his long twisted horns extended forward nearly ten feet from the demon's face. Each of his thick teeth was longer than Daeloth's arms, and the beast's eyes glowed with an intense glow of felfire. '' ''Sraath's skin was a deep red, mottled with striations of decaying flesh and flaking chunks of once living tissue. Daeloth had remembered Sraath before the change, he was nearly as large, but his skin tone was a rich and fiery red. Now it was appeared to be as decaying as the organic material used in the summoning ritual. '' ''The wings of the immense doomguard sprouted from its back like two massive spindly claws that reached into the darkening sky. The leathery skin that normally stretched between the bony grasp had long been torn away, leaving only the skeletal spines of the wings itself. The back of the beast was thick with muscles, his torso broad and heavy, marking the doomguard as a strong warrior in his own right. '' left|thumb|300px|Sraath as he was before he was defeated and killed by Daeloth the Silencer. Overview Most doomguards do not reach a high status amongst the Burning Legion, instead living their lives commanded by the barbaric Pit Lords or being manipulated by the puppeteering Nathrezim and Eredar. A few, however, have proved themselves worthy enough to wear the mantle of "leader." Sraath, sometimes called "The Darkener" or "The Eclipse," was one of these. Sraath is the leader of the Shadowed Sun, the unit of the Burning Legion that is usually sent in first to "soften up" a world before a full invasion. Sraath, not having the raw physical strength of a pit lord, understood the value of a more subtle approach when necessary, and he tailored most of the Shadowed Sun legions in such a capacity. Those pit lords that he commanded, one of which was Daeloth the Silencer, did not agree with such methods, believing that brute force would always been preferable to knives in the back or blades at the throat. This view was shared by a few of the Shadowed Sun, and the unit split when Daeloth challenged Sraath for leadership. The pit lord won, and Sraath was defeated. Having fallen under the axe of Daeloth the Silencer, Sraath's body was slain. Those demons loyal to Sraath, however, took his corpse and preserved it. They studied the darkest tomes from the very reaches of the Twisting Nether and developed a ritual that would rebind their masters restless soul to his body once more. While it required massive amounts of magic to perform, the loyalists succeeded in bringing their master back. Sraath, now called "Sraath the Reborn," is a much more terrifying creature than before. His time parted from his body has made him a little more insane than most demonkind, and the fact that his body is already dead means that physical damage does not give him pain. Additionally, Sraath has also learned how to "break off" pieces of his consciousness and give them autonomous life of their own. He can create any number of these "aspects" of himself to perform whatever duties are necessary. These aspects recognize and work for their "master," but most do not realize until much later that they are, in fact, a piece of him. When Sraath returned to life, he rechallenged Daeloth and took his place again as the leader of the Shadowed Sun. Seeing his terrifying new visage has prevented any other demons from questioning his leadership again. As a form of punishment, Sraath sent Daeloth to Azeroth to take care of a rogue demon and the prey that she let slip by. Since Daeloth, too, has failed in his task, Sraath has finally decided to step in and take matters into his own, terrible hands. The key to Sraath's unlife is his weapon, a sword carved from the bones of various races that the Shadowed Sun has helped conquer. Sraath's followers had the blade constructed, and they bound his soul into it. Thus, whenever his body is close enough to the blade, Sraath's soul uses it as a vessel. The key to undoing Sraath is severing the connection to his blade. But even then the soul still exists, and will attempt to take over the body of anyone foolish enough to attempt to wield it.